We are very pleased to announce that Cochrane South Africa has appointed Charles Shey Wiysonge as its new Director, effective December 2016. The Founding Director of Cochrane South Africa, Jimmy Volmink, will be stepping down from managing day-to-day operations at the Centre, but will continue to serve as Chair of the Global Organizing Committee…
Richard Morley is Cochrane's Consumer Co-ordinator. Cross-posted, with permission, from the Cochrane Consumer Network site.
In 2015 the Cochrane Consumer Network took a hard look at the state of consumer involvement in Cochrane and found much to celebrate:
a long history of consumer involvement, going back to the start of Cochrane
a network…
We are pleased to announce the 10 successful titles from the third Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) funding round.
Airway physical examination tests for detection of difficult airway management in apparently normal patients (Anaesthesia, Critical and Emergency Care)
Atraumatic restorative treatment versus conventional…
Consultation on the draft document “Consumer involvement in Cochrane: developing the Statement of Principles”
Closing date for feedback: 31 December 2016
Dear colleagues,
During 2015, the Cochrane Consumer Network undertook its Structure and Function Review, examining key elements about consumer involvement in Cochrane, and the…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page.
Until recently Cochrane Heart worked mainly with expert clinicians in an internal prioritization activity. For example, between May and August 2016 the group assessed and…
Howard White is the CEO of the Campbell Collaboration. Cross-posted, with permission, from the Campbell Blog.
The National Institute for Clinical Evidence (NICE) has produced new consultation guidance on ‘Air pollution - outdoor air quality and health’. Not very newsworthy you might think. Well you’d be wrong.
The Telegraph (UK) ran the story on…
Cochrane Crowd , Cochrane’s new citizen science platform, is a global community of almost 4,000 volunteers who are helping to classify the research needed to support informed decision-making about healthcare treatments.
Cochrane Crowd would like your help to achieve one million classifications by the end of the year. Help Cochrane…
Cochrane and the Epistemonikos Foundation are delighted to announce the launch of our official partnership aimed at improving the knowledge base for making decisions in health care and global health policy.
The close alignment of objectives, values, products, and services between Cochrane and Epistemonikos has existed for some years. Both…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page.
The Cochrane Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Group moved to Bogota, Colombia in 2012, where it is now part of the School of Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de…
Angéline Serre, EU Funding Coordinator, is leaving Cochrane to take up a one-year position at Bordeaux University. Her last day will be January 12. Given the ongoing uncertainty for EU funding of UK Cochrane Groups, as well as the central team, due to Brexit, we have been in discussions about what central support was appropriate given that many…
An estimated $170 billion of research funding is wasted each year because its outcomes cannot be used [1]. The waste occurs during 5 stages of research production: question selection, study design, research conduct, publication, and reporting [2,3]. Much of this waste appears to be avoidable or remediable, but there are few proposed solutions.…
Screening Notes
Common issues in Summary of Findings tables and how to address them
The Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) has been undertaking pre-publication screening of Cochrane Reviews since 2013. In that time a team of editors from the CEU has assessed hundreds of submissions, and has not only identified areas for improvement within individual…
Cochrane CEO Mark Wilson, provides a recap of events from the Colloquium and what we have to look forward to.
Dear Colleagues,
It’s three weeks since the close of our 2016 Cochrane Colloquium held in the vibrant city of Seoul, South Korea, and therefore a good time to draw breath after the frenetic activity that took place there to assess the…
The Targeted Updates project aims to provide policy-makers, in particular guideline developers, with up-to-date information from Cochrane Reviews, tailored to their needs and working to a fast timeline. Targeted Updates use Cochrane Reviews as their foundation, but focus on updating selected comparisons and outcomes, working in close consultation…
We're posting all the highlights from the 2016 Cochrane Colloquium here - watch this space as we'll continue to update with new stories as we receive them!
Colloquium by the numbers
813 participants from 49 countries
96 workshops
191 posters
151 oral presentations
Plenary and AGM videos now available
Videos from all four plenary sessions…
Taryn Young, Senior Specialist Scientist from Cochrane South Africa, shares news of a recent workshop in Cape Town.
How do you develop a diagram to show how HIV testing could reduce HIV transmission? Or how providing communities with latrines could reduce the number of children with diarrhoea? If you want to know, then you should have come…
Andrew Herxheimer Memorial Meeting
Friends’ Meeting House, St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW
Tuesday 15 November 2016, 10am for a 10.30 start
We very much hope that you will be able to join us on Tuesday 15 November 2016 to remember our colleague Andrew Herxheimer (1925-2016). We will celebrate his extraordinary contributions, in particular to the…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority settings page.
The Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group (CCRG) had a few goals in mind when they embarked on a recent prioritization exercise. They wanted to make sure their portfolio…
Cochrane Complementary Medicine is pleased to announce our 2016 bursary scheme, made possible through funds from the US National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The purpose of this bursary scheme is to ensure that reviews relevant to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are completed and…
Please find below the main decisions made by Steering Group at its meeting in Seoul. If you have any questions about these decisions, please contact your Steering Group Representative.
Co-Chair election: The CSG elected Cindy Farquhar and approval of her appointment would be sought from the Cochrane members at the AGM.
Structure and Function…
Cochrane Colloquia are our annual flagship events, bringing together Cochrane contributors from around the world to discuss, develop and promote Cochrane, and help shape its future.
The 2016 Cochrane Colloquium will be held in Seoul, South Korea from 23-27 October. For full information regarding the Colloquium, please visit the website.
Key…
We want to share some exciting news about changes in development for the Cochrane Library! We are developing an enhanced Cochrane Library with greater functionality that makes it easier for users to discover and use Cochrane content in their decision-making. Over the course of this year, we are redeveloping all aspects of the Cochrane Library to…
MECIR (Methodological Expectations for Cochrane Intervention Reviews) standards for conduct and reporting have been updated. We have added two new sets of standards to cover the reporting of protocols and the planning, conduct, and reporting of updates.
For further information and to download the latest booklet of standards please visit the…
The Agenda and Open Access papers for the Cochrane Steering Group meeting in Seoul are now available.
Cochrane Community members may be particularly interested in the following papers:
CEU Report on Review Quality
Governance Restructure Papers
Knowledge Translation Strategy Update
Membership Update
Spokesperson Policy
Structure and…
The IKMD team is pleased to announce an update to Archie effective 4 October 2016.
The update includes several new features; most noticeable to contributors will be the Archie log-in page, which is now Cochrane-branded. This change reflects that Archie is one of several systems to which your account provides access.
Other changes relate to new…
Cochrane Brazil manages a team of volunteer translators who work on systematic review abstracts and Plain Language Summaries. Part of this process involves editing and ensuring the quality of the Portuguese translations produced before they are published. Due to the popularity of WhatsApp in the country, Patricia Logullo, translation editor at…
Taking a closer look at how we store blogshots and user engagement with them on twitter.
Muriah Umoquit, Internal Communications and Content Officer with Cochrane’s Communications & External Affairs Department, spent the last quarter looking at the newest Cochrane dissemination product, blogshots. Here she shares the results:
We have…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page.
The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (CTAG) has a longstanding commitment to prioritization, largely through informal discussions at the editorial base and by monitoring…
‘It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’ World famous philosopher (and sometime baseball player) Yogi Berra got it spot on. We’re all constantly making judgements – large and small – about the future based on our knowledge, experience, values, and intellectual analysis, but also our ‘gut instincts’ and feelings, when we can’t…
Cochrane’s newest Field, Global Ageing, launches on 1 October 2016. This field is the natural evolution of the Cochrane Healthcare of Older People Field. Read more about Cochrane Global Ageing in an interview with Managing Editor and Co-Director, Sue Marcus, on Cochrane.org.
For more information, please see 'Introducing Cochrane Global Ageing' on…
We are pleased to provide an update on Cochrane’s open access policy, which has been in place since February 2013. The open access policy aims to broaden access to Cochrane Reviews (including protocols) and generate greater impact. Since February 2013, Cochrane Reviews have been free to view 12 months after publication (green open access) via the…
We all know that identifying studies for inclusion in reviews is challenging. We also know the reasons for this – poor reporting, poor indexing and the ever-increasing volume of research being published. Cochrane Crowd’s 3,000 citizen scientists are already accurately and quickly identifying reports of randomized controlled trials for inclusion in…
This week is Peer Review Week, a global event to celebrate and debate peer review. This is the second year the event has taken place and it has expanded to involve over 20 organizations with an interest in peer review. You can read more on the Peer Review Week website and by following #PeerRevWk16 on Twitter. This year's theme is Recognition for…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that we have received a grant of USD $1.15 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will support the development of Cochrane's next generation evidence system, with a specific focus on maternal and child health, and a number of Cochrane Groups, including the Child Health Field and the…
Angéline Serre has joined the Cochrane Communication and External Affairs Department (CEAD) in September 2015 with the aim of stimulating and accompanying the participation of Cochrane teams in European funding programs. She has a background in health research (PhD in neurosciences) and an expertise in developing applications for EU calls for…
The Cochrane Editorial Unit is pleased to announce that the third funding round of the Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) pilot is now open. There have been some changes to the application guidelines and form:
1. Applications for titles that have been funded through alternative sources will be accepted. The…
The Cochrane-Wikipedia partnership is pleased to announce a pilot in which volunteers will work with Cochrane Global Ageing to help improve the medical and health content of Wikipedia in this area. If you are a student in a health- or care-related discipline, and have an interest in communicating about evidence informed health care, this is a…
Holger Schünemann has announced his resignation from the Cochrane Steering Group (CSG). He will focus on leading Cochrane Canada and efforts to attract long-term funding to the Cochrane Groups based in Canada. His resignation takes effect from 22 August. We’d like to thank him for his service on the CSG and his contributions to its work over the…
Salomé Planas is the Spanish translation coordinator for Cochrane Iberoamérica and has been involved with Cochrane since 1998. Here she reflects on her experience and the changes she has seen during the last 18 years, as well as explaining why she is proud to be part of Cochrane.
How did you first get involved with Cochrane?
"I got involved in…
The 2016 Mid-Year Review, reporting on progress of targets associated with Cochrane's Strategy to 2020, is now available. This report provides a comprehensive update of work underway on all 17 2016 targets, and a more detailed picture of the data highlighted in the 2016 Q2 Dashboard, which was published in July.
For more information on this…
We are very pleased to announce that Cochrane South Africa has appointed Charles Shey Wiysonge as its new Director, effective December 2016. The Founding Director of Cochrane South Africa, Jimmy Volmink, will be stepping down from managing day-to-day operations at the Centre, but will continue to serve as Chair of the Global Organizing Committee…
Richard Morley is Cochrane's Consumer Co-ordinator. Cross-posted, with permission, from the Cochrane Consumer Network site. In 2015 the Cochrane Consumer Network took a hard look at the state of consumer involvement in Cochrane and found much to celebrate: a long history of consumer involvement, going back to the start of Cochrane a network…
We are pleased to announce the 10 successful titles from the third Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) funding round. Airway physical examination tests for detection of difficult airway management in apparently normal patients (Anaesthesia, Critical and Emergency Care) Atraumatic restorative treatment versus conventional…
Consultation on the draft document “Consumer involvement in Cochrane: developing the Statement of Principles” Closing date for feedback: 31 December 2016 Dear colleagues, During 2015, the Cochrane Consumer Network undertook its Structure and Function Review, examining key elements about consumer involvement in Cochrane, and the…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page. Until recently Cochrane Heart worked mainly with expert clinicians in an internal prioritization activity. For example, between May and August 2016 the group assessed and…
Howard White is the CEO of the Campbell Collaboration. Cross-posted, with permission, from the Campbell Blog. The National Institute for Clinical Evidence (NICE) has produced new consultation guidance on ‘Air pollution - outdoor air quality and health’. Not very newsworthy you might think. Well you’d be wrong. The Telegraph (UK) ran the story on…
Cochrane Crowd , Cochrane’s new citizen science platform, is a global community of almost 4,000 volunteers who are helping to classify the research needed to support informed decision-making about healthcare treatments. Cochrane Crowd would like your help to achieve one million classifications by the end of the year. Help Cochrane…
Cochrane and the Epistemonikos Foundation are delighted to announce the launch of our official partnership aimed at improving the knowledge base for making decisions in health care and global health policy. The close alignment of objectives, values, products, and services between Cochrane and Epistemonikos has existed for some years. Both…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page. The Cochrane Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Group moved to Bogota, Colombia in 2012, where it is now part of the School of Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de…
Angéline Serre, EU Funding Coordinator, is leaving Cochrane to take up a one-year position at Bordeaux University. Her last day will be January 12. Given the ongoing uncertainty for EU funding of UK Cochrane Groups, as well as the central team, due to Brexit, we have been in discussions about what central support was appropriate given that many…
An estimated $170 billion of research funding is wasted each year because its outcomes cannot be used [1]. The waste occurs during 5 stages of research production: question selection, study design, research conduct, publication, and reporting [2,3]. Much of this waste appears to be avoidable or remediable, but there are few proposed solutions.…
Screening Notes Common issues in Summary of Findings tables and how to address them The Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) has been undertaking pre-publication screening of Cochrane Reviews since 2013. In that time a team of editors from the CEU has assessed hundreds of submissions, and has not only identified areas for improvement within individual…
Cochrane CEO Mark Wilson, provides a recap of events from the Colloquium and what we have to look forward to. Dear Colleagues, It’s three weeks since the close of our 2016 Cochrane Colloquium held in the vibrant city of Seoul, South Korea, and therefore a good time to draw breath after the frenetic activity that took place there to assess the…
The Targeted Updates project aims to provide policy-makers, in particular guideline developers, with up-to-date information from Cochrane Reviews, tailored to their needs and working to a fast timeline. Targeted Updates use Cochrane Reviews as their foundation, but focus on updating selected comparisons and outcomes, working in close consultation…
We're posting all the highlights from the 2016 Cochrane Colloquium here - watch this space as we'll continue to update with new stories as we receive them! Colloquium by the numbers 813 participants from 49 countries 96 workshops 191 posters 151 oral presentations Plenary and AGM videos now available Videos from all four plenary sessions…
Taryn Young, Senior Specialist Scientist from Cochrane South Africa, shares news of a recent workshop in Cape Town. How do you develop a diagram to show how HIV testing could reduce HIV transmission? Or how providing communities with latrines could reduce the number of children with diarrhoea? If you want to know, then you should have come…
Andrew Herxheimer Memorial Meeting Friends’ Meeting House, St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW Tuesday 15 November 2016, 10am for a 10.30 start We very much hope that you will be able to join us on Tuesday 15 November 2016 to remember our colleague Andrew Herxheimer (1925-2016). We will celebrate his extraordinary contributions, in particular to the…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority settings page. The Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group (CCRG) had a few goals in mind when they embarked on a recent prioritization exercise. They wanted to make sure their portfolio…
Cochrane Complementary Medicine is pleased to announce our 2016 bursary scheme, made possible through funds from the US National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The purpose of this bursary scheme is to ensure that reviews relevant to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are completed and…
Please find below the main decisions made by Steering Group at its meeting in Seoul. If you have any questions about these decisions, please contact your Steering Group Representative. Co-Chair election: The CSG elected Cindy Farquhar and approval of her appointment would be sought from the Cochrane members at the AGM. Structure and Function…
Cochrane Colloquia are our annual flagship events, bringing together Cochrane contributors from around the world to discuss, develop and promote Cochrane, and help shape its future. The 2016 Cochrane Colloquium will be held in Seoul, South Korea from 23-27 October. For full information regarding the Colloquium, please visit the website. Key…
We want to share some exciting news about changes in development for the Cochrane Library! We are developing an enhanced Cochrane Library with greater functionality that makes it easier for users to discover and use Cochrane content in their decision-making. Over the course of this year, we are redeveloping all aspects of the Cochrane Library to…
MECIR (Methodological Expectations for Cochrane Intervention Reviews) standards for conduct and reporting have been updated. We have added two new sets of standards to cover the reporting of protocols and the planning, conduct, and reporting of updates. For further information and to download the latest booklet of standards please visit the…
The Agenda and Open Access papers for the Cochrane Steering Group meeting in Seoul are now available. Cochrane Community members may be particularly interested in the following papers: CEU Report on Review Quality Governance Restructure Papers Knowledge Translation Strategy Update Membership Update Spokesperson Policy Structure and…
The IKMD team is pleased to announce an update to Archie effective 4 October 2016. The update includes several new features; most noticeable to contributors will be the Archie log-in page, which is now Cochrane-branded. This change reflects that Archie is one of several systems to which your account provides access. Other changes relate to new…
Cochrane Brazil manages a team of volunteer translators who work on systematic review abstracts and Plain Language Summaries. Part of this process involves editing and ensuring the quality of the Portuguese translations produced before they are published. Due to the popularity of WhatsApp in the country, Patricia Logullo, translation editor at…
Taking a closer look at how we store blogshots and user engagement with them on twitter. Muriah Umoquit, Internal Communications and Content Officer with Cochrane’s Communications & External Affairs Department, spent the last quarter looking at the newest Cochrane dissemination product, blogshots. Here she shares the results: We have…
This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page. The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (CTAG) has a longstanding commitment to prioritization, largely through informal discussions at the editorial base and by monitoring…
‘It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’ World famous philosopher (and sometime baseball player) Yogi Berra got it spot on. We’re all constantly making judgements – large and small – about the future based on our knowledge, experience, values, and intellectual analysis, but also our ‘gut instincts’ and feelings, when we can’t…
Cochrane’s newest Field, Global Ageing, launches on 1 October 2016. This field is the natural evolution of the Cochrane Healthcare of Older People Field. Read more about Cochrane Global Ageing in an interview with Managing Editor and Co-Director, Sue Marcus, on Cochrane.org. For more information, please see 'Introducing Cochrane Global Ageing' on…
We are pleased to provide an update on Cochrane’s open access policy, which has been in place since February 2013. The open access policy aims to broaden access to Cochrane Reviews (including protocols) and generate greater impact. Since February 2013, Cochrane Reviews have been free to view 12 months after publication (green open access) via the…
We all know that identifying studies for inclusion in reviews is challenging. We also know the reasons for this – poor reporting, poor indexing and the ever-increasing volume of research being published. Cochrane Crowd’s 3,000 citizen scientists are already accurately and quickly identifying reports of randomized controlled trials for inclusion in…
This week is Peer Review Week, a global event to celebrate and debate peer review. This is the second year the event has taken place and it has expanded to involve over 20 organizations with an interest in peer review. You can read more on the Peer Review Week website and by following #PeerRevWk16 on Twitter. This year's theme is Recognition for…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that we have received a grant of USD $1.15 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will support the development of Cochrane's next generation evidence system, with a specific focus on maternal and child health, and a number of Cochrane Groups, including the Child Health Field and the…
Angéline Serre has joined the Cochrane Communication and External Affairs Department (CEAD) in September 2015 with the aim of stimulating and accompanying the participation of Cochrane teams in European funding programs. She has a background in health research (PhD in neurosciences) and an expertise in developing applications for EU calls for…
The Cochrane Editorial Unit is pleased to announce that the third funding round of the Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) pilot is now open. There have been some changes to the application guidelines and form: 1. Applications for titles that have been funded through alternative sources will be accepted. The…
The Cochrane-Wikipedia partnership is pleased to announce a pilot in which volunteers will work with Cochrane Global Ageing to help improve the medical and health content of Wikipedia in this area. If you are a student in a health- or care-related discipline, and have an interest in communicating about evidence informed health care, this is a…
Holger Schünemann has announced his resignation from the Cochrane Steering Group (CSG). He will focus on leading Cochrane Canada and efforts to attract long-term funding to the Cochrane Groups based in Canada. His resignation takes effect from 22 August. We’d like to thank him for his service on the CSG and his contributions to its work over the…
Salomé Planas is the Spanish translation coordinator for Cochrane Iberoamérica and has been involved with Cochrane since 1998. Here she reflects on her experience and the changes she has seen during the last 18 years, as well as explaining why she is proud to be part of Cochrane. How did you first get involved with Cochrane? "I got involved in…
The 2016 Mid-Year Review, reporting on progress of targets associated with Cochrane's Strategy to 2020, is now available. This report provides a comprehensive update of work underway on all 17 2016 targets, and a more detailed picture of the data highlighted in the 2016 Q2 Dashboard, which was published in July. For more information on this…